MILWAUKEE - Wisconsin Lutheran College came back from a nine-point second half deficit and the Lakeland College men's basketball team was dealt a disappointing 68-64 loss Saturday afternoon in a Northern Athletics Conference game.

The Muskies lost their second straight game and for the third time in four games, dropping to 16-5 overall and 9-3 in the NAC. Lakeland also is now just one-half game ahead of Concordia University Wisconsin in the NAC North Division standings, and the top four teams in the North are now separated by just 1 1/2 games.

The Muskies seemed to have the game in control in the second half when Steve Ross (So.-Milwaukee, Wis.) scored for a 54-45 lead with 13:01 to play in the game. Lakeland had emerged from a close first half to lead 40-35 at halftime and maintained the lead and built on it early in the second half.

However, a scoring drought was just on the horizon for the Muskies, with six missed shots and five turnovers over a span of more than five minutes. Wisconsin Lutheran capitalized, scoring ten straight points to take a 55-54 lead with 8:08 left in the game.

The two teams swapped the lead down the stretch, but the Warriors (8-12 overall, 5-6 NAC) owned the final two minutes. Sam Kuehl hit a jumper to put WLC up for good at 63-62 with 2:00 left. Lakeland missed four straight shots and didn't score again until Jake Schwarz (Sr.-Sheboygan, Wis.) hit a layup with four seconds left that was too little, too late.

Schwarz finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Justin Ward (Jr.-Wisconsin Dells, Wis.) added 15 points and seven rebounds while making 7-of-11 from the field. No other player scored in double figures, though, and the Muskies shot 43.5% (27-of-62) for the game but just 33.3% (10-of-30) in the second half. Ward also blocked three shots and both Brandon Hagenow (Fr.-Sussex, Wis.) and Joey Burris (So.-Kiel, Wis.) had five assists each.

Tim Demuth scored 13 points to lead three Warriors in double figures. Wisconsin Lutheran shot 41.0% (25-of-61) but committed just seven turnovers.

Lakeland faces a huge game Tuesday when it travels to face NAC North challenger Milwaukee School of Engineering at 7 p.m.